As
its English name suggests, the Chinese New Year flower is a seasonal
flower which blooms during the biggest festive annual occasion for
Chinese people (and, for that matter, Koreans, Vietnamese and pretty
much every people who have a lunar calendar). And over the years, I've
come to look forward to catching sight of these pretty pink blossoms
when I've gone hiking during Chinese New Year.

Maybe it's my imagination -- or maybe I've grown more adept at spotting them -- but in recent years, I feel like I've been seeing more and more of these flowers than previously.
Even so, I was really surprised this afternoon when, after telling the
friend I had gone hiking in the northern New Territories with today that
Chinese New Year flowers are rare sights early on during our hike when
we came across a clump of them, we proceeded to see as many as we did
along the trail!

Perhaps
after some years of being given protected status by the Hong Kong
government, these flowers -- which deforestation almost wiped out --
have come to thrive once more in the wilds of the Big Lychee. If so, I
really am glad -- and am happy to report that I didn't see anyone trying
to pluck any of the Chinese New Year flowers found along the trail,
only shutterbugs happily snapping photos of these beautiful wild
blossoms. :)